The Domesticity Series
by maddyupstairs
Summary: [SasuNaru] Sasuke and Naruto's adventures in housekeeping! Formerly known as "Roommates."
1. Prolog, Roommates

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Rating: PG for language.

Pairing: SasuNaru

Warning: Cliché fic ahead!! Also, shounen-ai. And sappy sap.

Summary: Sasuke and Naruto become roommates.

A/N: This layout of Naruto's apartment was taken out of the anime, not manga. I'm not even sure if it's really a studio, but oh well.

Roomates, Part 1

--maldita

"So, this is your place," Sasuke said with a raised eyebrow. It was a lot cleaner than he thought it would be, he had to admit. Who'd ever thought that the _dobe_ was actually a good housekeeper? Naruto certainly wasn't what anyone would call a poster-boy for clean living.

"Yep," Naruto said, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Home sweet home and all that. You can dump your stuff by the bed, I'll fix us something to eat." Sasuke nodded and went for the twin bed. He could hear Naruto messing around in the small kitchenette.

Sasuke put down his backpack and duffel bag and took a closer look at Naruto's apartment. It was only a studio, but it was pretty spacious. From where he was standing by the foot of Naruto's bed he could see everything: the closed front door and the open one to the bathroom, the kitchenette and dining area, the glass sliding doors that led to a narrow balcony.

As the ninja part of Sasuke's brain automatically catalogued every possible point of entry and/or escape (eight; the apartment had a lot of windows), the part of himself labeled "Naruto's best friend" (and wasn't _that_ weird) couldn't help but notice that for all the apartment's admittedly homey atmosphere, there was a distinct lack of...people. Picture frames. Photographs of family and friends. The family part Sasuke could understand, but the friends? He'd always thought Naruto would be the kind of person that would have tons of his friends' pictures around.

And come to think of it, where was _Naruto_ in this neat, if slightly shabby, apartment? There wasn't a hint of the loud, obnoxious, maddening _dobe_ anywhere. Not in the neatly pinned up posters, the clean floors, the suspiciously empty trashcan, the made-up bed, the healthy _houseplants_.

Oh, wait. There was that swimsuit calendar beside the mirror. And the ramen poster. Hm.

"Lucky! There's still two ramen left!"

Sasuke looked toward the dining area where Naruto was putting down two small Styrofoam cups on the table. He sighed and made a mental note to buy foodstuffs. Unlike Naruto, he had no intention of living off of nothing but instant ramen for the foreseeable future.

"Hey, _dobe_, don't you have anything other than ramen?" Perhaps not what a polite guest would say to their host, but when had politeness had anything to do with him and Naruto anyway?

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, looking at him with slitted eyes. He was already sitting down and blowing on the cup of noodles in front of him. With a muttered, _itadakimasu_, he began slurping. "Don'cha like ramen, Sasuke?"

Sasuke sat down and opened his cup. "Don't talk with your mouth full, _baka_. _Itadakimasu_. Has it ever occurred to you that not everyone loves ramen the way you do?" Sasuke winced at the first overly salty slurp. Naruto was going to kill himself eating this junk.

"They don't?" Naruto asked, his eyes ridiculously wide open.

Sasuke frowned and took another long slurp of his dinner. He wasn't sure if Naruto was being serious or facetious. Which was weird since the _dobe_ was the simplest person he knew. He didn't think Naruto was even capable of understanding the concept of irony. Then again, he didn't think Naruto would actually be _fastidious_ either. Confused and not liking it, he settled for a murmured, _baka_, and continued eating.

Naruto finished eating with a loud, satisfied sigh and sat back, looking at Sasuke quietly. Sasuke frowned. "What?"

"How long d'you think you gotta stay here?"

"At least a month. You know that yourself, _dobe_." Sasuke answered, annoyed not so much because it was a stupid question, but because he knew it wasn't the question Naruto meant to ask.

"Don't call me _dobe_," Naruto said, almost casually. "Hey, sorry about your house."

Sasuke shrugged. "It was old. And I knew the roof needed to be fixed a long time ago. I was surprised it took this long to collapse, actually."

"Oh."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What is it?"

"Huh?" Naruto asked, startled out of staring at the ceiling. "What is what?"

"You obviously want to ask me something. Just spit it out already."

"Wha—it's nothing," Naruto said in a way that meant it _was_ something.

Sasuke scowled. "Fine. I'm done," he said, putting down his chopsticks.

"Eh? But you only ate half of it!"  
"If you want it so much you can eat it yourself, _dobe_." Sasuke said, getting up and walking to his duffel bag.

"Fine, I will! Asshole. And don't call me _dobe_!"

Sasuke grabbed his towel and bath stuff and started for the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower."

"Don't use up all the hot water!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and slammed the bathroom door closed.

---

The rest of the evening was surprisingly comfortable, Sasuke thought back with not a little bit of shock as he settled down on his sleeping bag. Maybe it was because they were both tired and achy from their last mission and the confusion that followed, but aside from the fight over the hot water ("You used up all the hot water!" "There wasn't any to begin with, _dobe_!"), the two of them slipped into the roles of roommates easily. Really easily.

Sasuke figured it was because they'd camped out and spent so many nights in hotel rooms together on their missions that they were just familiar with each other's habits. Still. It was kind of eerie. After all, they had no mission to occupy their thoughts or distract them from thinking about how much the other grated on their nerves, no matter that they were each other's "best friend."

Sasuke found that Naruto still annoyed the shit out of him, sure, but it was... comfortable. Familiar. Almost... soothing. Sasuke scowled and turned on his side. He must be more tired than he thought.

Naruto, _soothing_? What a joke.

He was just about to fall asleep when loud rustling from the bed had him opening his eyes. "What it is, Naruto? I need to sleep."  
A long pause, then: "Sasuke, why'd you pick my place to live in?"

And maybe it was because of the dark or the fact that he it was the _dobe's_ floor he was lying on, but Naruto had never sounded like this to Sasuke. Quiet and unsure. A really weird feeling settled on the bottom of his stomach. Sasuke frowned and didn't answer.

"Because, you know, Sakura-chan really wanted you to stay at her place. And you could've asked any of our other friends... I mean, they looked like they really wouldn't have minded... Everybody wanted to..." _Take care of you_. It was there, unsaid. Sasuke heard it, and he also heard the rest of what the _baka_ wanted to say. _Nobody would have wanted to take care of me, if I lost my apartment._

He didn't know why, but suddenly Sasuke felt his eyes harden as the knot on the bottom of his stomach grew bigger and bigger so that he _really_ wanted to curl his hand into a fist and destroy something. Someone. And surprisingly enough, someone _not_ Naruto.

When Sasuke opened his mouth, his voice came out weird. Quiet and not angry. "It's just more practical to stay with a group member. And I didn't want to deal with anybody's parents."

"Oh." Naruto said, in a voice that clearly said he didn't understand why Sasuke didn't want to have someone's mom wash his socks.

When Sasuke opened his mouth again, he was probably more surprised than Naruto. "I would've let you stay at my place, if your roof caved in."

Naruto didn't say anything and Sasuke mentally beat himself up for saying something so stupid. What was he, a _girl_?

There was more rustling from the bed; Naruto turning away. "Feh. Who asked you, asshole." Then, a little later, "goodnight, Sasuke."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, the knot in his stomach unwinding. "Goodnight, Naruto."


	2. Coming Home

Disclaimer: disclaimed

See Warnings, etc in Part 1

Also, teeny tiny spoiler for chapter 233 of manga.

Part 2

Sasuke woke up hungry and annoyed. Granted, it wasn't as though it was unusual for him to wake up that way, considering he hardly remembers to feed himself when he's not on missions and he's pretty much _always_ annoyed anyway. But this was the first time he could actually blame someone for it. At least, someone who was physically there and was, therefore, an easy target.

He scowled at the yawning idiot on the bed. "There is nothing to eat, and the milk expired three weeks ago."

Naruto looked blearily up at him. "Geez, don'cha think it's way too early to be this bitchy?" His nightcap slouched to one side, threatening to fall off Naruto's head completely.

Sasuke's eye twitched. That nightcap _seriously_ annoyed him. Always had. It wasn't even any kind of animal that he can figure out. It was so stupid. "I'm going to go to the _conveni_ and get us something to eat. I still have a little bit of tea leaves left from the mission. Do you think you can brew a pot without screwing up, _dobe_?"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto yawned and stretched.

Sasuke looked at him skeptically for a moment before turning to go.

"Hey, get me some more cup Ramen, will ya?" Naruto called out just as he reached the door.

"Whatever," Sasuke said, and stepped out.

-

Sasuke closed the door behind him and slipped off his shoes. Naruto, now dressed and wide awake, looked up from where he was pouring himself a cup of tea from an old, beaten-up pot. He grinned toothily at Sasuke who frowned at him.

"What are you grinning at?" Sasuke grumbled, momentarily taken aback by how bright the idiot's smile was.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Naruto asked, eyes huge and full of childlike expectation. It was nauseatingly stupid look on Naruto.

Sasuke scowled. He was supposed to say something? What the hell was the _dobe_ talking about now? "What?"

"You live here, right?" Naruto asked expectantly.

Unfortunately. "For now, yeah."

Naruto sighed dramatically. "You left, right?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto like he was the stupidest person alive.

"And now you came back," Naruto said slowly, as though making sure Sasuke understood him.

Sasuke understood him just fine. _Sasuke_ wasn't the one who'd apparently lost his mind in the ten minutes he left the apartment. "What the hell are you talking about, _dobe_?"

"Aargh!" Naruto waved his hands around like a crazy person. "You live here! You left! You came _back_! You're supposed to say—" he broke off abruptly and then slumped into his chair, pouting. "Nevermind. Whatever."

Sasuke was just about to start yelling at Naruto when the penny dropped. Oh. _Oh._ "Um, _tadaima_," he mumbled, shifting his weight and staring at the wall over Naruto's bowed head.

Which jerked, then froze, then slowly lifted. Sasuke watched, aghast, as Naruto's big blue eyes slowly started tearing up. "_O-okaeri!_" Naruto practically yelled.

Sasuke took an involuntary step back. He could see snot trying to come out of the _dobe_'s nose. Naruto wiped his face with his sleeve before grinning stupidly up at him. What an idiot.

Sasuke scowled at him, uncomfortably aware that his face was hot, and went to the kitchen countertop. He quickly took out his purchases. He deliberately kept his back to the idiot at the table who was _still_ snuffling noisily.

"What did you buy?" Naruto asked, his voice still sounding a little weird.

Sasuke found a skillet and fired up the stove. "Milk, eggs, some instant rice and miso."

"Did you get my cup Ramen?" Naruto asked.

"It's in the bag." Sasuke heard the chair legs scrape the floor as Naruto got up.

Sasuke broke two eggs over the skillet and whipped it around with chopsticks. He could feel Naruto looking at him from his side. "What now?"

"Hey, can I have some?" Naruto asked, practically leaning over Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke batted him away with his free hand. "No. Go away and eat your ramen."

"Aw, c'mon! Pleeease, Sasuke-_kun_," the annoying brat wheedled.

This time Sasuke elbowed him in the gut. "I thought you loved ramen."

"I do! But you only got one, and I want to save it for later." Naruto started wiggling around him. Sasuke contemplated murder. "C'mon, c'mon! Don't be so stingy!"

"Fine, fine! Just stop bothering me already," Sasuke growled and reached for another egg. "You heat up the miso and rice."

Sasuke broke another egg and mixed it with the ones already cooking. He sprinkled some salt over them. Behind him, he could hear Naruto snickering around the microwave.

Maybe he really should've killed the _dobe_ that time, after all.

A/N: _Tadaima_ means "I'm home!" and _Okaeri_ means "Welcome home." It's a traditional coming home greeting in Japan. Usually this is automatic for most people, but I made Sasuke forget to do it because he'd spent so many years living alone (some people say _tadaima_ to an empty house, but I don't think Sasuke's one of them). Naruto's so worked up about the whole thing because he's never had anyone to say _okaeri_ or _tadaima_ too. I've figured out that there really isn't going to be a big over-arching plot to this fic, only a set of vignettes about Naruto and Sasuke living together in the same apartment and what they might encounter/do in such a situation. I think that's plenty enough to write about—considering the emotional baggage each of them carries as it is. ;;; Oh yeah, please R&R!!

Jadetiger: glad you like it!

Turtledonkey27: you don't think it's too much sap? That's great! Am I being too obvious though?

HikariChang: do you think I should make it fluffier?


	3. Chicken Ramen for the Soul, Part 1

Chicken Ramen for the Soul, Part 1

"Your cooking sucks," Naruto said baldly, looking at Sasuke with slitted fox eyes.

Sasuke glared, a vein popping on his forehead. "If you don't like it, don't eat it, _dobe_!" He made a grab for the bowl Naruto was holding.

The _baka_ raised his hands, getting his portion of scrambled eggs-on-rice away from Sasuke. "Hey! I never said I wasn't going to eat it!" He quickly shoveled rice into his mouth to prove his point.

Sasuke stared at him. "I thought you said you didn't like it." Even he had to admit the eggs were too salty. And a little burnt. Okay, more than a little. This was why he usually ate out. It really was a good thing Sakura always insisted on cooking their food during missions.

"Sho? What'sh yer point?" Naruto slurred around a mouthful of food, clearly confused and spitting rice and little chunks of scrambled egg all over the table.  
Sasuke resisted the urge to tear his hair out. "Argh. Whatever." Sasuke resolutely turned to his own bowl and picked up his chopsticks again. "Don't talk with your mouth full. Idiot."

--

The two _genins_ walked side-by-side, heading for team seven's usual rendezvous point. Naruto was talking a mile a minute and Sasuke had tuned him out five steps out from the apartment.

Sasuke was seriously considering moving out of Naruto's apartment and living somewhere else. He must've been delirious with exhaustion last night, actually thinking that being roommates with the _dobe_ was going to be easy. He could probably still stay over at Sakura's if he asked. Or better yet, he can just camp out at his house. Who needed a roof anyway? Roofs were for the weak. Sasuke nodded to himself. He can move out today, after the mission.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Naruto asked, annoyed. He'd stopped walking.

Sasuke stopped and turned, looking emotionlessly at the blond. "No."

Naruto glared. "Geez! See if I ever thank you again, idiot!" He put both hands behind his head and pointedly turned his face from Sasuke.

Sasuke blinked. Naruto was _thanking him_? "What?"

Naruto peered at him from narrowed eyes. He stared at Sasuke for a moment before sharply blowing out a breath. "I said: thanks for cooking me food and stuff. Nobody ever did that for me before."

Sasuke frowned and involuntarily made a fist. He hated hearing about how deprived Naruto was when he was growing up. It made him feel uncomfortable. "Don't mention it," he said, and began walking again.

He supposed living with the _dobe_ wasn't so bad. After all, it's only for until his roof gets fixed. Besides, waking up after sleeping out in the rain always gave him a headache.

Naruto jogged a little to catch up to him. "So that's why I'll always eat your food, see? I mean, even if it was you and even if you can't cook for crap, you still made the effort and everything. Although, it would have been better if you cooked ramen. I bet even you can't mess that up. Or even if you did, I'd still think it was good, because I just love ramen. I still can't believe you don't like ramen, Sasuke. How can you _not_ like ramen? There's so many to choose from and they're all so good! Like miso ramen and pork ramen and chicken ramen and of course there's..."

Sasuke growled. He was _definitely_ moving out. Maybe not today, it would be too much trouble. Tomorrow, though, for sure.

--

Sasuke and Naruto waved goodbye to Kakashi-sensei. It had been just the three of them today; Sakura had apparently woken up that morning with a fever and cold and so was temporarily out of commission. That meant that Team Seven was, for the time being, going to be assigned nothing but D class missions. Sasuke had found himself very annoyed upon hearing the news that morning when Kakashi-sensei finally showed up, and thought that he and the _dobe_ could handle higher ranked missions easily, especially with Kakashi-sensei. Of the three _genins_, Sakura did the least amount of work anyway.

Naruto, meanwhile, had been worried to the point of distraction the entire day. More than once either Sasuke or Kakashi-sensei had to step in and catch the _dobe_ before he fell off a rooftop or ran into a wall. It was probably prudent to give them really simple missions, if Naruto continued to perform this badly.

Although, Sasuke thought it was very unprofessional for Naruto to let himself be so affected by Sakura's absence. He frowned. Then again, Naruto was _never_ professional in the first place. Even when the _dobe_ would occasionally display that immense amount of power and skill he had, he was never really _professional_. Driven, stubborn, and focused, maybe, but not professional.

Which was why Sasuke wasn't surprised when Naruto suggested they go visit Sakura after saying goodbye to Kakashi-sensei.

"I hope Sakura-chan didn't catch that flu bug that's been going around," Naruto said worriedly, just as they were a few blocks away from Sakura's house, "I overheard some of the old folks saying it's really bad."

"Sakura's young and resilient," Sasuke pointed out, "I doubt you have anything to worry about."

"Yeah," Naruto said, perking up. "And we can always ask Tsunade-obachan to heal her."

Sasuke nodded. Personally, he doubted the new Hokage would be so accommodating to anyone who _wasn't_ Naruto.

"Hey, I got an idea!" Naruto ran up slightly ahead and grinned at Sasuke. "We should give Sakura-chan a flower—she always brought you flowers when you were in the hospital. It would probably cheer her up."

Sasuke shrugged. He didn't remember anything about any flowers, but he could certainly imagine Sakura being pleased about receiving a flower. Girls were like that, or so he assumed.

"Okay, what about this one?" Naruto asked, holding up what looked like a pink carnation.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Not that one, idiot."

"What? Why not?" Naruto peered at the thing.

"It's practically dead, that's why." Sasuke glanced at the bush Naruto got the flower from. "Pick something that actually looks alive."

"Oh," Naruto said, eyeing the drooping carnation in his hand before throwing it away. "Okay." He picked another flower, this one looking a lot better than the first. "Is this good?"

"That's fine," Sasuke said impatiently. He was getting hungry. He wanted this over with. Chasing a runaway parrot with a talent for inventive curses was more tiring than he thought.

"Hehe," Naruto chuckled and clutched the fragile bloom carefully. He was probably imagining some improbable romantic scenario or something starring him and Sakura. Sasuke frowned.

What an idiot.

--

A/N: Heh, I know I'm posting like mad right now, but it's because I'm posting as I go along and right now the muse is singing in my ears. :) Oh, I'm changing the format of the fic a little. Still no big-ass overarching plot aside from the two being roomies, but there will be mini-plots with parts.

HikariChang: er, still not really fluffy... I think my muse is a little allergic to high fluff content.

Hieisbestbuddy888: I think the whole coming home greeting is kinda cute... :)

ichaicha: hello fellow sasunaru writers member! Glad you think I'm writing in character.


	4. Chicken Ramen for the Soul, Part 2

For disclaimers, warnings, etc, please see Prolog

A/N: for those of you who wanted lemon, I wrote a NC-17 fic set in this same AU, only five years in the future. It's in adultfanfiction-dot-net entitled "Taken." Hope some of you check it out and please don't be too lazy to review! Also, I'm notice that I'm renaming the fic to the "Domesticity Series," because I think that sounds cooler. ;)

Chicken Ramen for the Soul, part 2

--maldita

Sasuke left Sakura's house in a worse mood than he had entered it. Beside him Naruto was withdrawn and quiet, staring at the ground. The visit had been awkward for him from the start.

Naruto had knocked on Sakura's door, shuffling his feet and holding the carnation, while Sasuke had remained slightly to the side and was therefore, out of sight. Sakura's parents answered the door and had been obviously hesitant to let Naruto, their daughter's _teammate_, enter their house. They said Sakura was fine and would probably be joining them again in a day or two and that there was no need to disturb her so late in the evening. It had been six o'clock. It wasn't until Sasuke stepped forward and said that he wanted to see Sakura too that the two of them were allowed inside. And even then it was painfully clear that Naruto was not really welcome inside their home. It made Sasuke grit his teeth.

Seeing Sakura made things a little better. Naruto cheered up instantly and Sakura looked really pleased that they visited her, even if she couldn't really talk because of a sore throat. Naruto had blushed when he gave her the carnation and Sakura had smiled genuinely if wanly at him. Her eyes had strayed to Sasuke though, and he caught the slight slump of Naruto's shoulders when the blond noticed. Then Naruto perked up and said that it was actually _Sasuke_ who picked out the flower and Sakura smiled so brightly even Sasuke, as surprised as he had been at Naruto's announcement, had to smile back. Naruto had forced out a laugh.

When they left, Naruto actually bowed to Sakura's parents. It was so unexpected and unusual that Sasuke almost tripped over his own feet. Naruto wouldn't even bow to the _Hokage_. Sasuke himself had only mumbled a short goodbye.

Anger and frustration roiled in Sasuke's stomach. He _seriously_ wanted to beat someone up. He had come very close to shouting at Sakura's parents and the only thing that stopped him was that he knew Naruto would just end up suffering for it if he did lose his temper. Although, he was pretty sure he scared Sakura's parents just a little when he had looked at them with _those_ eyes when Naruto's back was turned. Well, they deserved it.

Sasuke shook off his thoughts and looked up to realize they were almost at Naruto's apartment. He glanced at the unusually quiet _genin_ beside him. "There's still nothing to eat at your place."

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts with a visible flinch. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Um, I don't really feel like eating. I think I'll just take a bath and turn in."

_That_ had Sasuke blinking in surprise. Naruto, too tired to eat? "Okay."

"I'll leave the door unlocked so you can get in," Naruto said before going inside the building.

Sasuke stared at the retreating back before starting to walk off to the _conveni_. Then he paused for a split second before disappearing from sight.

--

Sasuke could hear the bath running when he stepped into the apartment. After muttering _tadaima_—and feeling foolish about it—he quickly took off his shoes and went to the kitchen.

Ten minutes later Sasuke was eyeing the bubbling concoction in the pot warily; was it supposed to smell like this? Maybe he'd put too much ginger... And the color was kind of weird too. Crap.

The bathroom door opened and closed and Sasuke sensed rather than heard Naruto walk towards him, apparently lured by the smells wafting from the cooking pot. Suddenly, Sasuke got the insane urge to throw what he was making—pot and all—out the window. He tensed as he felt Naruto stop just behind him and look over his shoulder.

"Okaeri, Sasuke. Um, what's that?"

He gripped the ladle and glared at the overly-fragrant liquid, its odd muddy color taunting him. He flushed.

"Ramen!" Naruto exclaimed, peering at the contents of the pot and sniffing loudly. "Sasuke, you made me ramen—and not the instant kind either!"

Sasuke looked at the grinning boy beside him and relaxed, just a little bit. "Shut up. I didn't cook it for you, dobe."

"Eh? Then why're you making it?" Naruto asked curiously. "You hate ramen."

Sasuke deliberately stirred the noodles. "It was on sale."

"Okay," Naruto said, eyeing Sasuke's impassive face skeptically before continuing in a cheerful voice, "hey, I can have some, right?"

"I thought you said you weren't hungry," Sasuke pointed out.

The blond looked at him like he was crazy. "Sasuke, it's _ramen_," Naruto said like that explained everything.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, feeling very much put upon. "Fine. Set the table then."

Naruto gave a loud whoop then turned suspicious slitted eyes on the boy in front of the stove. "You're not lying, are you? Because you gave in way too easily and you never—"

"Shut up, dobe! Do you want me to change my mind?" Sasuke turned to Naruto, brandishing the soup ladle threateningly.

"Geez! Okay, okay," Naruto held up both hands placatingly, "just checking!" He turned to get the dinnerware from the cupboard, and Sasuke could hear him muttering about moody weirdos all the while.

Sasuke turned his attention back to the cooking pot and promptly cursed under his breath when he saw the soup was just about to boil over. He quickly turned down the heat and stirred the ramen, deciding that it was probably time to add the vegetables and fish cakes. Behind him he could hear Naruto humming the refrain of some popular song to the clink of dishes being put on the table.

Not for the first time that night, Sasuke wondered what the hell did he think he was doing. So the dobe was feeling down. So his crush's parents hate his guts. So what? Did that mean Sasuke had to go out of his way to _comfort_ the idiot? No, it did not; and yet here he was, cooking the dobe's favorite food. Fuck. When had he turned into such a pushover?

He glanced at Naruto. The idiot was sitting at the table and staring into space, smiling stupidly. There was drool coming out of his mouth. Sasuke frowned and returned to cooking.

Then again, it was only logical to make sure the retard didn't go to bed starving. He knew how loud Naruto's stomach rumbled when empty. The noise would have probably kept Sasuke awake the whole night and gotten him angry. Then he would have had to kill the idiot, and then Team Seven would permanently be stuck doing nothing but D rank missions. Well, it probably wouldn't have gone quite that far, but he would definitely have been kept awake by Naruto's stomach growling, at the very least.

After giving the ramen one last stir, Sasuke turned the stove off and put on oven mitts in the shape of Tonton and took hold of the pot's handles and put it on the table. The soup had barely settled before Naruto pounced on it, serving himself a generous portion of the stuff and, after a hasty "itadakimasu," immediately picking up his chopsticks to eat.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and took off the mitts, not bothering to scold Naruto for his complete lack of table manners. He knew it would never sink in anyway. After serving himself a much more cautious amount of ramen, and giving his own thanks for the meal, Sasuke took his first slurp.

And gagged.

Holy _fuck_, that was foul! Sasuke resisted the urge to spit. He made a grab for his glass, drowning the sharp taste out with water. Once his glass was empty he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stared wide-eyed at his bowl and the ramen mockingly staring right back at him.

Apparently he _had_ put too much ginger, and salt, and pepper. The noodles were limp and so were the vegetables. And the chicken was not so much undercooked as practically raw. Sasuke clenched his fists and glared, very much aware of the fact that his face was hot.

Dammit. He _hated_ not being good at something. He always made it a point to succeed and excel at anything he did and it pissed him off that the one thing, the _one_ thing he couldn't do well was something as simple as mixing ingredients in a pot. And what's worse, now _Naruto_ knows it. Sasuke swore that if the dobe said _anything_ he was going to nail his ass to the—

"Hey, Sasuke, aren't you going to eat that?"

Sasuke jerked out of his thoughts, looked towards Naruto, and blinked. His bowl was empty. And there was a piece of noodle sticking to his cheek.

"You ate it?!" Sasuke asked, horrified and a little nauseated at the same time.

Naruto gave him a 'well, _duh_' look. "Of course. So, are you eating yours?" He pointed at Sasuke's almost-full bowl of ramen. "'Cuz I'm still kinda hungry."

"Sure," Sasuke said warily, pushing his bowl towards the blond. Was it possible that the dobe was actually too stupid to realize that the food tasted awful? He watched with a kind of disgusted fascination as, slurp by messy slurp, the terrible tasting ramen disappeared into Naruto's mouth.

"Y'know," Naruto began conversationally in between bites of ramen and gulps of milk, "if you tasted the food while you're cooking it, you could probably make it taste a helluva lot better."

"Er, you can tell it's bad?" Sasuke eyed the blond suspiciously.

"Duh." Naruto rolled his eyes. "It tastes like crap."

Sasuke growled.

"But like I said before," the blond continued casually, "you made the effort and everything, plus, it's _ramen_, so of course I'll eat it. Besides, I know you don't like it when I go on hungry."

And because that sounded an awful lot like 'because you care about me,' Sasuke snapped out of his semi-daze and glared at Naruto. "You're wrong. I couldn't care less if you starved, idiot."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, waving off the brunet's anger with his chopsticks. "Hey, d'you think you can make some pork barbecue ramen next time?"

Sasuke felt a vein pop. "Who the hell do you think I am, your servant?!"

"Ah—hey! No, not the ramen!"

"Shut up, dobe!"

"Don't call me dobe!"

--

Later that night, after the two of them had cleaned up the mess they made in the dining area, Sasuke tried to get comfortable in his sleeping bag. He mentally cursed idiot blond ninjas and vowed to leave the apartment as soon as possible. Tomorrow, definitely.

"Hey Sasuke," the idiot blond ninja said from the bed.

"What is it now?"

There was a slight pause, then a quiet, "Thanks."

Sasuke stilled. "Yeah," he said, suddenly not as angry as he was just a moment ago. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Sasuke closed his eyes, the sound of crickets and Naruto's quiet breathing slowly lulling him to sleep.

Well, maybe he won't leave tomorrow. Next week will probably be soon enough.

--

End, Chicken Ramen for the Soul!

--

A/N: I hope you guys liked it! This might be the last chapter I'll be posting for a while (around 2 weeks) 'cuz midterms are coming up. --;;

Gi wo...: well, I can write longer chapters, but that would also mean that I wouldn't be posting as often.... --;;;

Jadetiger, Chaotic Demon, Crazy DOOM Kitten, & Strawberry Noodle Bunny: Thanks so much! I hope I was able to make this part interesting and still in-character... don't be afraid to tell me if I fell short though so I can change it!

Pinky-cat: lemon at adultfanfiction-dot-net!! Check it out and review, please!

ILLK & HikariChang: Um, I'll try to work on a chapter that will deal with Sasuke being jealous... because that's an interesting concept and I'm kind of curious as to what can make Sasuke jealous. Hm..

Hieisbestbuddy: hehe, probably no updates in a couple of weeks though, sorry. And I'm not sure myself when/if Sasuke and/or Naruto will say those three little words in this fic. Much more likely they'll say it in the other fic I'm working on. The one I'm pimping out like mad in adultfanfiction-dot-net. Hehe. Nothing like a little self-promotion!


	5. Domesticity Drabbles

For disclaimer, etc., see Prolog

A/N: This is kind of a weird update as it's not a chapter-chapter but a set of drabbles (exactly 100 words each) with a common, underlying theme. It was fun writing it though, 'cuz this is the first time I tried my hand at drabble writing. :) Also, fixed the formatting (for those of you who saw the "first version" of this update--sorry!).

--

Domesticity Drabbles

--

Old Joke

"Here, let me get—"

"Sasuke, you're so ordinary! Ninjas don't need to use that to do something so simple."

"Oh? And how do you propose we do it?"

"_Kage bunshin no Jutsu_!"

"Oh for the love of—"

"_This_ is how a _real_ ninja does—ACK!! ...Ouch."

"Idiot."

"Shut up! That was just a warm-up! _Kage bunshin no Jutsu_! This time it's serious. Clones, hold still, okay?"

"**Okay**!!!"

"Hm, let's see... twist to the left... stick it in—"

_BZZZZZZZZTTTTT!!!! CRASH!!_

"...hurts."

"Idiot."

So, how many Narutos does it take to change a lightbulb?

The world may never know.

--

Draining

"Are you sure y'know what you're doing?"

"Yes, now shut up."

"Geez, I _told_ you it wouldn't take it, but did you listen? Noooo. Mr. Fucking Know-It-All. ...Hey, careful!"

"Stop moving around, idiot. You're breaking my concentration. I'm almost done anyway... Just a few more..."

"Whoa! Warn a guy before you do that!"

"Shut up, I'm done."

"A lot sure came out..."

"Let me get a towel and clean the mess up."

Naruto turned and grinned at Sasuke who was wiping his hands and the plunger with a dishrag. "Heh, even the kitchen drain can't take your cooking."

"Shut up."

--

Lists

_Rice. Miso. Milk. _

Kakashi-sensei says there wouldn't be any long trips away from the village for a while.

_Eggs. Bread._

The refrigerator and pantry have been empty long enough. It's time for some serious shopping.

_Ground beef. Chicken. Pork._

The weather has begun to turn and the barest hint of frost hangs in the air.

_Tea. _

It's uncomfortably obvious that the tiles in the bathroom haven't been properly scrubbed in months.

_Disinfectant (extra strength)._

The list looks pretty complete, but still there's something missing...

Naruto lazily wanders over and, after seeing the list, adds one more item.

_Ramen. _

Oh. Right.

--

Pairs

In the entryway, one pair of ninja shoes lie in a messy, careless heap while another rests neatly beside them.

Two sets of dirty dishes are waiting to be washed in the sink.

In the bathroom, there are two toothbrushes—one blue and one orange—propped up side by side.

At night, there are two folded forehead protectors lying down on the dresser and two sets of quiet breathing mingle in the still night air.

He looks up at the dark ceiling and wonders when his life had suddenly begun existing in pairs.

"Goodnight, Sasuke."

"Goodnight, Naruto."

It's... not bad.

--

Old Married Couple

"So, how's life with Naruto?" Kakashi asks one day during training.

"I'm surprised I didn't kill him yet," Sasuke grumbles, memories of the past few days flitting though his mind.

"Ah."

"He's lazy and never cleans up after himself," Sasuke continues angrily, the words pouring out like water from a burst dam. "He never wants to do his share of the chores and _always_ leaves a mess after taking a bath. He complains about everything: the food, the missions, the weather, my _hair_. And he _never_ shuts up."

"...Ah."

"I often wonder why I'm with him in the first place."

--

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Unfortunately I don't have time to individuall reply to reviews, but I would like to give a very warm general "thank you!!" to everyone who did, especially to those wonderful people who've reviewed this humble little fic from the beginning. :)


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